Placebos Can Increase Women’s Sex Drive

The Journal of Sexual Medicine has released results from a study of women’s sex drives. That report revealed that women facing sexual dysfunction can increase their sex drive considerably when administered a placebo.

According to Cindy Meston, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Texas, the placebo effect is sufficient for the purposes of increasing a woman’s sex drive, and that a female version of Viagra – which pharmacologically achieves the same effect – may not be necessary for some women.

The tests were conducted on a sample size of 200 women with reported sexual arousal dysfunctions.

Among the 200, 150 women were administered a drug to boost their sex drive whereas the remaining 50 were placed on a placebo. After 4 weeks, Meston observed noticeable differences between one-third of the placebo batch and the others in that group. Those women experienced an increased libido with an accompanying improvement in their sex life.

It was also notable that they were able to retain that sex drive for the remainder of the 12 week trial. This result confirmed that the placebo effect does work on some women suffering from low sex drive.

Meston confirmed that conclusion, but was unable to pin-point the exact reason at present. “Results from our studies have proven so,” she said. “But to be honest, we are still in the search for answers on why such a phenomenon exists”.

Some hypotheses to counter the placebo effect included the fact such studies can provide opportunities for a couple to get closer and communicate better in an effort to improve their sexual lives.

Meston explains that these results have shed light on the psychological and emotion impact on a woman’s sex drive. However, more research and experiments will be required to better understand these interesting revelations.